Zeitgeist: Heather Barringer, Patti Cudd, Jay Johnson percussion; Carl Witt, keyboards; Michael Lowenstern, reeds; David Milne, alto saxophone; with Eric Stokes, percussion
"Music is for the people. For all of us: the dumb, the deaf, the dogs and jays, handclappers, dancing moon watchers, brainy puzzlers, abstracted v whistlers, finger-snapping time keepers, crazy, weak, hurt, weed keepers, the strays. The land of music is everyone's nation－her tune, his beat, your drum－one song, one vote." －Eric Stokes
Eric Stokes (1930-1999) was a unique voice in American music. He was a genuine original, justly compared with Ives, Cage, and Henry Brant. A sense of grandeur, a love of nature, and a need for personal freedom were central to both the man and his work. Nicolas Slonimsky, in Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (8th edition), records that he was "variously described as a crusty, eccentric, wonderfully humorous, very healthy and resourceful American composer of gentle, witty, lyrically accessible music, with a taste for folkloric Americana and a 'Whitmanesque' ear."
The four compositions on this, the first recording devoted entirely to his music, evince, in varying degrees and combinations, all these attributes. Susquehannas (1985) is a nature-inspired ode to the Indians who lived in the Eastern mountains. The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two (1994) incorporates several folk melodies (and a few of the composer's own) in a fairly straightforward setting rich in lyricism and humor. Tintinnabulary (Phonic Paradigm IV) (1983), for two percussionists, is a beautiful exploration of sound qua sound, an attempt "to ring some few of the sounding world's most multitudinous tintinnabularies." Whittlings (1992) was composed as a sonic metaphor on the art of whittling. Metaphor aside, it's a witty, jazz-inflected rhythmic workout that brings the program to a spirited conclusion.
Eric Stokes
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| CD | $15.99 |
Track Listing
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Susquehannas: I. Nostrum
Eric Stokes
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Susquehannas: II. Buffalo Bones
Eric Stokes
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Susquehannas: III. Whangdoodles
Eric Stokes
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The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two: I. Bull 'Gine 'n' Tarriers
Eric Stokes
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The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two: II. Breath Can Blow Both Ways ... hot on cold fingers ... cold on hot soup
Eric Stokes
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The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two: III. Pop The Whip
Eric Stokes
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The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two: IV. Go 'Way From My Window ... from my door ... my bedside ... bother me no more
Eric Stokes
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The Pickpocket is Lyrical Two: V. Over The Deep Blue Moon
Eric Stokes
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Tintinnabulary (Phonic Paradigm IV)
Eric Stokes
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Whittlings
Eric Stokes
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